Current levels of antisemitism “can’t go on”, senior Muslim leaders have said in an open letter calling on their community to do more to combat Jew-hatred.
Signatories of the letter include Dame Sara Khan, the government’s former counter-extremism commissioner, along with Muslims Against Antisemitism founder Fiyaz Mughal, Imam Asim Hafiz, imam of the British Armed Forces, and Dr Shiraz Maher, who leads the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London.
The full letter read: “We as British Muslims hear you. Antisemitism in the UK has worsened dramatically since October 7, 2023. On one side, the drumbeat has been raucous and relentless; on the other, the response has been weak and underwhelming. This cannot go on.
“We have watched with alarm how legitimate protest has been used by some to normalise slogans, symbols and rhetoric that glorify violence. Sometimes it is explicit but more often is messaged through a series of subtle codes: a refusal to condemn; an equivocation or equivalence; triangle hand-signs; gliding parachutes and endless placards with antisemitic imagery and tropes. This is unacceptable and inexcusable — as it would be with any other form of racism or bigotry. This includes assigning collective responsibility of Jews for the actions of the Israeli government.
"Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed last October while attending a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur simply for being Jewish. Jewish communal buildings and assets have been attacked in a pattern of sustained menace. Synagogues and ambulances have been firebombed. Jews have been violently attacked on our streets.
"The scale and intensity of attacks against the British Jewish community is horrifying. But so is the silence and lack of condemnation. After the shocking murder of George Floyd in the US, widespread protests and solidarity demonstrations occurred across our own country. Hundreds of thousands participated in more than 260 towns and cities. Yet when our own fellow citizens, colleagues and friends are attacked, murdered and intimidated, no such solidarity is offered. This only adds to the anxiety and fear of our Jewish neighbours.
“No other community endures the indignity of private security outside almost all of its communal buildings, places of worship or, perhaps most appallingly, schools. It is unconscionable and intolerable. These attacks on Jews also undermine our collective social values and the contract which underwrites our society. Indeed, the Jewish experience provides a great example for our own community of successful integration: loyal, committed, but also distinct.
"There will not be a quick or easy solution to this — as much as we would like one.
“To start, we need to face uncomfortable realities. It is tempting to explain away the current crisis as an aberration inflamed by the privations of current conflicts in the Middle East. That belies the facts.
“The existence of antisemitic hate among the far right and far left cannot be disputed. Neither can the hate from some of our fellow co-religionists. Evidence has repeatedly shown how those involved in acts of Islamist terrorism and violence also harbour hatred for Jews. Malik Faisal Akram, who flew from Blackburn to the United States in 2022, took four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas. A few years earlier, one of the most prolific online supporters of Isis, operating under the name “Lone Mujahid”, spent weeks calling for attacks on synagogues, Jewish businesses, schools and communal events across Britain.
“These are just two examples in a long and shameful list. The status quo cannot go on and will need all of us to both challenge and change such hatred wherever it exists in our communities.
“Government must lead the way. They should close the gaps in legislation which permit glorification of terrorism and incite hatred as identified in the official report Operating with Impunity. The criminal justice system needs to adopt a swifter response towards those breaking existing laws. Social media companies should adopt a zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism and enforce their existing standards which too frequently does not occur. Priority for interfaith and cohesion projects should be given to those skilled and able to encourage dialogue where anger and hatred exists.
“We also call upon Muslim communal and religious leadership to be more robust in challenging antisemitism whenever and wherever it appears in our communities, as with any form of racism. To openly support those Muslims who are working to strengthen Jewish engagement but find themselves intimidated by other Muslims who are hostile to such important work. To demonstrate how Islam’s rich tradition encourages dialogue and bridge-building, as opposed to bridge-burning advocated by those who despise Jews.
“We say to our Jewish friends and neighbours: we see you, we hear you and we are with you. We see the community attacked, targeted and intimidated. As your fellow citizens, we stand with you against the antisemitic hate you face. We stand with you not just for you — though you have our unqualified support — but also to save our democracy whose values and system are under assault from the same dark forces which target you.”
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